Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Dehradun - As part of the stakeholders’ consultations on the Dehradun smart city proposal, senior Government officials on Wednesday exhorted the public to participate unhesitatingly and provide their inputs on features of the smart city plan for Dehradun. Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) vice chairman and State’s nodal officer for the smart city programme, R Meenakshi Sundaram and Dehradun municipal commissioner Nitin Singh Bhadauriya interacted with city residents and addressed issues on Government of India’s MyGov.In portal.

Dehradun is among the 23 cities that have been asked by Ministry of Urban Development to submit a revised smart city proposal by April 15 for which the State authorities undertaking effort to get Dehradun on the second list of smart cities to be issued in the near future. “The ministry had given us some inputs and we are diligently following these. Citizens’ consultation is critical to the process. We have adopted a multi-pronged approach to engage citizens and solicit their views through a mix of online and offline mediums. I strongly feel a passionate participation from citizens of Dehradun is urgently needed to ensure we pass through this critical phase. Please vote on MyGov.In portal,” said Sundaram, adding that the authority had also been conducting a campaign to garner public involvement and support for the project.

He further said, “MDDA is taking various additional steps to solicit inputs from all strata of society. To ensure we facilitate easy access to the online portal and encourage people to vote, we have created special kiosks and teams are deployed in various parts of the city,” added Sundaram.

Regarding concerns raised by the public over ‘misconceptions’ and ‘unfounded fear’ Sundaram allayed apprehensions regarding decimation of greenery in the town. He said, “A city is like a living organism - much like me and you - and as a custodian of the city, we would be the last person to snuff life out of it. Let me assure, no trees would be cut except in special circumstances and wherever done, we would compensate by planting four-times more trees,” he said. The nodal officer added, “Weaker sections of society and the labour classes will also be integral to this project – with the chief minister Harish Rawat having said that the first building in this project would be for them.”

MDDA is also roping in premium institutions like Forest Research Institute among others seeking their valuable inputs for the project. Global firms Frost & Sullivan and Price Waterhouse Coopers have been roped in for assisting MDDA in development of the project proposal as well as offline survey.

Addressing the gathering, Bhadauria informed citizens on the need for convergence of smart city project with other ongoing schemes for operational efficiency and ease. “As alert citizens, you must participate actively and ensure that you make your voice heard,” he added.